Only the Blind Can See
by Elenor GreanLeEf
Summary: Jackson manages to survive the tank blast that almost killed him. However, his life will never be the same again.
1. Alive

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Saving Private Ryan…although Jackson does sometimes own me in my dreams and fantasies ;) _

Pain, that was all that registered in his mind. He hurt everywhere. There were parts that hurt differently, like for instance his face and arms felt like they were on fire, while his chest and lower body was throbbing with a dull ache. However, once he got past the pain another thing came clear, he couldn't move! He tried to sit up but a heavy weight was holding him down and finally he realized that whatever this weight was, its pressure was probably causing the pain on his chest and legs. He almost started to panic when he decided to open his eyes and see what was on top of him. His eyes opened slowly and he blinked a few times, but there was nothing. Not a flicker of light or even a glimpse of dust that he knew had to be floating around inside of the old bombed out church, just complete blackness. Fear over took him, he couldn't see! What was left of his composure left him the second he realized this. In an instant he began to struggle to move, which only caused more pain to shoot through his body and soon his lungs were screaming for air. He couldn't deny this need, so he stopped his struggling and took as large of gulps of air that his compressed chest would allow.

As he did this he became aware of something wet that was sliding down his cheeks, slightly stinging them as they went. It took him a few seconds to understand that they were tears, his tears; he was crying. He shook his head slightly, no that wasn't right. He didn't cry he hadn't been able to cry since the battle of Normandy, and yet here he was crying. This thought only terrified him even more. He had seen many men burst into tears before their final moments. Was that going to happen to him? No, no he didn't want to die here. He didn't want to die alone, in this unfamiliar country, with some heavy unknown object preventing him from moving, and being unable to see. He wouldn't die here, not if he could help it.

"Please God, get me out of here," he whispered slightly before he screamed, which sounded more like he was barely able to choke out the words. "Ple…please, is there any…anyone there? Please help…help me!" Just this little bit caused him to have to stop and gasp for air once again. "If there is anyone there, please help," he managed to get out before he was thrown into a coughing fit. Tears were running down his cheeks once again while he tried to stop coughing. It was unbearable being trapped here and it seemed impossible that anyone would ever find him.

"Is there anyone in there?" he heard a familiar voice say. He couldn't quite place who it was but it was enough to make him feel some comfort.

"Yes in here!" he said before coughing again. "Please help me!" He then began to take shallow breaths, and hoped he wouldn't start coughing again.

"Don't worry I'm coming for you," the voice told him as he heard some footsteps that came closer to him. They stopped for a moment before they asked, "Where are you? I can't see you."

"Over here," he just barely managed to say.

"Oh my God," the voice said when it finally realized where he was. "Bumpkin is that you?"

He grinned slightly, only Reiben called him that. "Yea..yea' it's me, Reiben," he said before he started coughing again.

"God I can't believe," Reiben began to say before he changed his mind. "I'll be right back with help okay Jackson? I won't even be a minute; you just hang in there okay?"

"Alright," Jackson said before he laid his head back down. Then finally the pain and exhaustion was too much, and he drifted off to the sound of Reiben screaming for a medic.

_A/N: Alright I know I should be starting another story when I have several I should be working on but I couldn't help it. This idea came into my head and I just had to run with it. I hope you all will like it!_


	2. Blind and Scarred?

_A/N: Okay chapter two is up. I hope you all will like this.

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When Daniel woke, it took him a few minutes to understand what was going on. His head felt a little groggy and he felt a strange sensation of being wrapped in something. He still couldn't see, but it seemed that was because his head was wrapped. He still ached a little but the pain was barely noticeable. He was still trying to sort out everything when he heard something that sounded like metal being dropped.

"Albright, what do you think you're doing?" he heard a strict female voice say in almost a whisper. Daniel shivered slightly. The only other person he had heard that could have that much authority in their voice, while whispering, was the Captain. It was slightly unnerving to hear that come from a woman.

"I wasn't doing anything," another woman said.

"Oh really? Were you not just trying to use a utensil that you had just dropped on the ground, and no longer sterile?" Daniel could hear the sarcasm and how impatient this woman was becoming. He couldn't blame her in a way. If it was him that this nurse was coming at with a dirty instrument he wouldn't be pleased, but in a way it didn't matter to him. He had already been through much worse out on the front. What was in this room could not compare to what had been out there.

"I wasn't doing anything like that," the other woman insisted.

"You were I saw you do it. Now go get that utensil cleaned now, or I'll put you on report!"

He could hear one of the women laugh sarcastically, he assumed it was the younger one and he was right when he heard her speak. "You can't do anything like that, so don't even try to fool me."

"You listen to me _private_!" the other woman said in a low threatening tone. "You see this bar? This is a lieutenant's bar! Now I shouldn't have to spell this out for you, but I'm going to just in case you're not getting it. This bar means that I outrank you, and not only do I out rank you, I'm in charge of the floor during this shift! You belong to me, which means if you've done something that isn't right I have the power to report you and I will if you do not get that skinny of yours into the autoclave room and get that utensil sterile!" There was a brief moment of silence before the woman spoke again. "Do not argue with me. I don't have time for this and neither do you. These patients are our priority, so if you have a problem with me confront me after our shift, understand?" Her voice was calm, almost too calm but it seemed to get the point across.

Daniel wasn't sure what to make out of what he had heard. Clearly the private didn't respect the other woman but he was lost to the reason why. He could have never imagined disrespecting a person who outranked him like that, although he had seen Reiben do it before. There was another thing to consider. This woman, whoever she was, seemed to be as hard as steel, but still so concerned about her patients. He didn't know wither he was unnerved by this or not. He sighed loudly; this would be so much easier if he could actually see!

"So you're awake," that same female voice said from beside him. It startled him because he wasn't use to having someone sneak up on him, but when he felt a small hand on one of his shoulders he calmed down. The touch was gentle and it didn't even bother his arm. "I'm sorry about that. I should have let you know I was here." Now that he was calmed down, he noticed how much her voice was changed. The harsh firmness that was used on the other nurse was gone and was replaced by something gentle and calming.

"That's alright," he said, only to find his voice was barely above a whisper. For the first time he realized how thirsty he was and somehow the woman figured that out.

"Are you thirsty?" she asked, in that same calming voice. He nodded and then could hear her walking away from him. She didn't keep him waiting long though because no sooner had she left she was back.

"Okay I'm going to hold your head up for you; I don't want you to do it because I don't want you straining yourself yet," she told him. Her voice was still gentle but now it had a slight commanding tone to it. He had no choice but to comply, so he nodded his head slightly.

He felt one of her hands reach behind his head and then barely lifted it up. Daniel felt the lip of the cup brush against his lips and he parted them slightly. Then finally he could feel cool water against them and then going down his throat. Daniel couldn't remember a moment in his life that anything had ever felt, or tasted better. He drank greedily for a few moments before he felt the cup being pulled away from his lips. This caused him to sigh loudly.

"Can't I have more?" he asked. He knew he sounded like he was pouting but he couldn't help it. He was still thirsty!

"You can, just slow down a little. I don't want you to choke. You've been through enough as it is and I don't really want you coughing. It's not good for the healing process," she said, with some amusement in her voice.

"Okay, I'll drink slower," he promised her quickly.

It almost seemed like he could tell she was smiling as she brought the cup back to his lips. Like he had promised, he drank slower and soon he had enough.

"Thank ya Ma'am," he said, fully grateful. His voice was much louder now and his throat was no longer dry.

"No need to thank me," she told him as she put the cup down. "I like to help."

"Still thank ya."

"It's nothing. Now how are you feeling? Any pain?" she asked him, now in full nurse mode.

"No, it just aches a little," Daniel told her and paused. There was one thing that was really bothering him. "Why can't I see Ma'am?"

"Well your eyes got a little damaged in the explosion and they are covered for protection."

"Will I see again?" he quickly asked. It was the one question that was really on his mind.

He could hear her sigh before she began to speak, "Well…"

"No please tell me the truth. I can handle it, I need you to tell me what might happen," he pleaded to her. Daniel wanted to know if there was a problem now, instead of finding out later. The not knowing would kill him if he didn't know now.

She sighed once again, and sat down on his bed, before she said, "I'll tell you but remember not everything I say is 100% true. I cannot predict the future. Truthfully it can go either way. There is a 50% chance you will see again, while there is also a 50% chance you may not. "

The words rang in his ear loudly and for a few moments neither of them said anything. The weight of those words weighed heavily on him. There was a possibility he would never see again. This thought was almost unreal.

The touch of her hand brought him out of his grim thoughts. "You listen to me and listen well," she told him. "Don't let that possibility rule you're life, don't live in fear of something that may never come. Live in what you have now. Right now you are recovering and you have other things to worry about. If you have to, worry about your eyes when they are finally uncovered but don't worry about them now. That will only make your recovery harder, and make the possibility that your eyes won't heal larger. I don't know if you are a religious man but if you are just leave it in God's hands. He knows what is best."

Her last words shook him hard and bought some since back to his brain. God had kept him alive that was a miracle in itself. There was no reason why he should stop believing now. He'd do what was best in the end and everything would be okay. Daniel knew that for certain and finally his body relaxed.

"Well obviously something I said got through to you," the woman said. "Now that you're calm, do you have any more questions?"

"Yea', do you know how long I have to wait to find out if I can see or not?"

"About two or three weeks. The bandage will come off when the other bandages come off."

"Oh," he said. The other injuries had completely slipped his mind, but now that he remembered them he was a little worried. "What happened?" he asked her.

She didn't say anything for a moment before she finally said, "There was a large piece of the building that had fallen on top of you. It broke your right leg in three places and cracked four ribs."

When she didn't say anymore something bothered him. He knew there was more to it than just the broken bones. What else could explain why there were bandages on his face and arms?

"Why is my face and arms bandaged?"

The woman sighed again; Daniel was starting to realize this was one of her traits when she had to say something that she didn't want to say. "Your face and arms were burnt," she finally told him.

"How bad is it?" he asked quickly.

"It's between second and third degree burns," she said reluctantly and sighed again. If his eyes were not already closed Daniel would have shut them tight to brace himself for what happened next. "In some places there will be scaring."

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_A/N: Okay I know that probably everyone is out for my blood right now for doing these things to Jackson, but please bear with me! It will actually be a very good story, I promise! Of course if you do hate it please let me know. I need reviews so I can improve this story. Thank you all! _


	3. Burns

_A/N: Okay new chapter for this story. Hope you all like it!

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Her words echoed in his ears and he suddenly felt numb. His mind was trying to wrap around the fact that he could be burnt that bad. Daniel shook his head slightly; it wasn't something he could believe. There was a possibility he could be blind as well as horribly scarred. The thought made his stomach turn over and he felt slightly sick.

"How…how bad?" he asked her. His voice shook slightly as he spoke.

"It's too soon to tell," she said.

"How bad do ya think it will be?" he asked. He was very uneasy and with a combination of all that had happened was slowly making him hysterical.

Her hand touched his shoulder again. "Shush, you need to calm down," she told him in that calm comforting voice. "Breath for me. Breath in and then out."

It was strange but as she continued to repeat this he began to listen to her instructions. His breathing slowed down and Daniel was a little calmer. Finally when he was calm enough he asked again, "Ma'am how bad do ya really think it'll be?"

"It is really too soon to tell," she told him again. "However, some parts won't be bad at all; in fact there were only a few spots were it got close to being third degree. Those are the only ones that will scar."

"Okay I think I can handle that," he said, and breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Good now is there anything else you need?"

Daniel thought for a few moments but he really couldn't think of anything. He wasn't hungry yet, and he wasn't in pain either. He needed to be able to see but she wouldn't be able to give him that. There wasn't anything she could do for him at that moment.

"No Ma'am," he said, "but what is your name?"

"Olivia, Olivia Wilson," she told him. He could almost imagine her smiling as she said it.

"Olivia," he said almost as if he was testing her name out. "That's a really nice name Ma'am."

"Thank you, but don't call me Ma'am. Just call me Olivia."

Daniel laughed slightly and said, "Alright Ma...I mean Olivia."

He could Olivia laugh slightly before she spoke again. "And what is your name?"

"Private Jackson."

"No what's your real name? I don't like calling people by their ranks or their last names."

Daniel was silent for a few seconds. It was very unusual for someone to ask him what his first name was. It had been so long since someone had called him it that it almost seemed like he was having a little trouble remember it.

"Daniel," he told her. It sounded foreign to him and came off his tongue strangely.

"Well Daniel it is nice to meet you, although I would have rather it been under different circumstances."

"Yea' me to Ma'am," he started to say and then quickly changed it. "Oh I'm sorry, I mean Olivia."

"No need to apologize. Most men have trouble with saying my first name. They are so used to formalities, or using a person's last name. I'm used to it but you'll get used to calling me by my first name," she told him.

"Oh alright," he said. Then something clicked. If he would get used to calling her by her first name how long would he actually be here and where was here? "Where am I Ma, I mean Olivia?"

"You are in an army hospital in Maine."

"Maine, Maine as in United States Maine?" he asked surprised.

"Yes, Maine as in United States Maine," Olivia said while chuckling softly.

Daniel went quiet for a moment. He couldn't believe it. He was in the States and not over _there_ anymore! Did that mean he didn't have to go back there again? Well of course you won't if you can't see a part of him said, but what if he could see? Would he still have to go back?

"Do I have to go back?" he asked, terrified of the answer.

"No," she said simply.

"Not even if my eyes heal?"

"No not even if your eyes heal. You've been discharged and as soon as you heal up enough to be released you can go home."

It was simply unreal. He didn't have to go back to the war, he didn't have to watch people he cared about be killed, and he didn't have to kill any more people.

"God thank you for delivering me from that place," he said, in barely a whisper.

He continued to take this new information in before he remembered the other men he was with. This caused him to ask her, "Do you know what happened to the other people I was with?"

"No, I'm sorry but I don't."

Daniel sighed and then whispered, "Watch over them and keep them safe, please."

"I could try to find out though," she told him. This sparked his interest.

"Could you really?" he asked desperately.

"Yes I can. Could you give me their names?"

"Captain John Miller, Sergeant," he began to say before she cut him off.

"Hold on, hold on. I don't have a paper or pencil yet. Just give me a second," she told him before he heard her stand up and walk away. He was anxious for her to come back and fortunately a few moments later he heard her footsteps and felt her sit back down on the bed. "Okay now you can start over."

"Alright, Captain John Miller, Sergeant Mike Horvath, Corporal Timothy Upham, Private Stanley Mellish, and Private Richard Reiben," he said quickly.

"Who were the last two? I didn't catch them. Remember I can't write as fast as you can talk," she told him.

Daniel would have laughed but he was too anxious. "Private Stanely Mellish and Private Richard Reiben," he told her again and then started to speak to himself. "I hope they are alright. Reiben saved my life, if it wasn't for him..." His voice trailed off, he couldn't finish saying it let alone thing about it.

"I'm sure he's alright," Olivia told him, reminding him that he had spoken out loud. "I'll call around and send letters out. We should get a response in a week or two."

"I don't know if I can wait that long," he told her.

"I know it will be hard to wait but you'll be able to wait; besides right now that's all you can really do."

Daniel sighed loudly. She was unfortunately right. It was going to take a while for him to heal and it was slow to get mail through. Hopefully she would be able to get the phone calls through instead of resorting to mail, but he doubt she would be able to.

"Is he awake, Olivia?" a male voice said, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Yes Doctor," Olivia said. It was a little surprising to hear the change in her voice. It was no longer conversational, it was completely professional. He also felt her weight being lifted from the bed he was laying on.

"Good," the man said. "I'm Dr. Green and I will take care of you until you are healed. So how are you feeling?"

"I'm alright Sir," Daniel told him. All formality was back in place.

"Anything hurting?"

"No not really. I just ache a little in a few places, and my face and arms are sore."

"That's to be expected. You have quite a few broken bones and got burnt as well, but you will heal up fine."

Daniel was already silently thanking Olivia for being there and telling him all this information first. If she hadn't he would probably be panicking right now. The doctor was cold and aloof. He didn't really seem to worry about if this information would bother Daniel or not.

"Speaking of those burns," Dr. Green said, bringing back Daniel's attention. "We need to take care of those for today. I'll be back in a little bit to get them cleaned, Olivia will get you ready." He didn't even wait to see if Daniel had any questions, he just got up and walked away. He was starting to get worried before he felt pressure on his bead again.

"Is he always like that?" Daniel asked.

"Yes unfortunately," Olivia told him. "He isn't very compassionate and he will come right out and just tell someone anything. I've seen him come right out and tell a person they were dying, and he was as cold as can be. I try to explain to the patients what is going on the best I can before he comes around. I'm not always quick enough though because sometimes I have a lot of patients." Daniel could hear her sigh before she continued. "This is where burn cases go; you can't be so blunt with burn patients, but Dr. Green is. He's in the wrong location to be honest with you.

"But if he was in a different location would it really matter?"

Olivia sighed, "No I guess it wouldn't, anyway I have to get you ready now."

"Ya say that like it's a bad thing," Daniel stated when he caught on the tone of her voice.

"Daniel in a way it is," she told him. This caused his stomach to turn over again.

"What do ya mean?" he said fearfully.

Olivia didn't say anything right away. "Because of your third degree burns we have to take off the dead top layer of the skin, so that the healthy layer underneath it can heal," she said slowly. "I'm not going to lie to you because you've been able to handle everything so far, but it is very painful. It will hurt."

He swallowed and then once again tried to calm down. This whole situation just seemed to keep getting worse.

"How many places are there?" he asked weakly.

"Fortunately not a lot. You have two places on your left arm, and a large one on your right. Also there is a place on the right side of your neck."

"And my face?"

Once again she sighed loudly before she continued. "You have a place on your left chin as well as much of your forehead, but you have a large section from your cheek two your chin that got burned on your right side. There are two degree burns around these areas and fortunately they will not cause much scarring."

While Daniel was very strong, the thought of all of that was scaring the hell out of him. He didn't possibly know how he would handle someone taking off the skin on his face, and even if he did, what would he look like after all of that? He wasn't vain but any sane person couldn't help but be sickened by the idea of having major scarring.

"Daniel, Daniel listen to me," Olivia told him in that comforting voice of hers. "Yes I know it's going to be painful but you can handle it. I can tell, you're a strong man. If you weren't you wouldn't be here, or you would have already lost it. It's going to be alright, I promise."

Once again she managed to calm him down. However, the factor of him being scarred still worried him. "Olivia, what will people think of me when they see me like this?" he asked in almost a whisper.

He felt her rub his shoulder gently before she spoke. "Listen, does it really matter what people think? You are still you. You are still what God made you to be. You are still here," her hand went over his heart when she said this. "People who care, who really care about you will see that. It won't matter what you look like or if you can't see. They will still love you. The only way you are going to be any different is if you let this define you."

Once again her words made him think. Daniel didn't know how she kept doing this, but every time she said something it made him calm down and think rationally. It comforted him and he started to believe he could handle this.

"Let's get this over with," he said with new strength.

"Okay," she said. "I'm going to take the bandages on your arms off first, and then I will move to your face and neck. However, when I undo your face you must promise not to open your eyes. The light may damage them."

"Okay, I promise I won't open them."

She didn't say anything but she did begin to undo the bandages. It seemed like time went by slowly as first his left arm was free from them and then his right arm. The cool air was both nice and irritating as Daniel felt it around his arms. Then the bandage on his face and neck came off. Like he promised, he kept his eyes closed. It didn't really matter anyway because there was something covering them, but he did keep them closed. Then as the last piece of the bandage came off he heard the doctor.

"Okay it looks like you are ready. Olivia go scrub up and then we will get started."

Once again a feeling of sickness washed over Daniel and he could only hope this would be over soon.

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_A/N: Alright here is a new chapter up. I hope you all liked it. Also forgive me if I wasn't right about how you treat burns. I'm not a nurse and I know next to nothing about medicine, so I'm just swinging it. I hope I am portraying Daniel the right way. I'm trying to get his character down while also adding in the fact that he has faced something very traumatic. If I'm not getting it right please give me some tips on how to make it right. Also any other tips would be welcomed. _


	4. Pain

_A/N: Okay, here is another chapter for this story. I am sorry it took so long, writer's block striked again, but I'm on a roll right now. I'm working on all of my stories, so there will be a new chapter on them to. I will warn you this chapter is not a happy one. I hope you like it anyway though.

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The pain that he had first felt when he woke up in the church was now a distant memory. It couldn't compare to what he was feeling now. Never before had he experienced anything like this. His face and arms were screaming at him in pain.

For the first time in his life, Daniel wanted to die. The only thing that registered in his mind was if he died he wouldn't be in pain anymore, he would be with God and pain would be nothing but a memory. That idea was almost blissful. He could now understand why Wade had begged for more morphine, he had to have felt that death would be better than what he was experiencing.

Daniel's mind drifted between the pain and what had happened. They had taken him into another room and had him lay down on something similar to a table, and then it had started. They began with his arms. When the first piece of his dead skin had come off he had jerked his arm away. Olivia's calming voice couldn't calm him down anymore, it just hurt too much. Then after a few moments of trying to keep him still, they restrained him. He still struggled but there wasn't anything he could do. They continued to scrape his skin off his body and the pain continued. He also remembered that he heard screaming echoing throughout the room. It had taken him a few moments to realize that the screams were coming from his own mouth, and when he did he couldn't keep himself from doing it. Finally they had finished with his arms and stopped long enough to bandage them. He had prayed to God that they wouldn't start again, but deep inside of him he knew that some prayers were answered with a no, this was one of those times because there was still his face.

After they finished with his arms, they had restrained him again. Daniel could remember that Olivia had still been trying to get him to relax, but it wasn't working. There was no way he could relax after that. He had been in so much pain and he knew it was only going to be worse. Once again they started to scrape skin off of him, and he had been right, that was far worse. After a while the pain was so much that he had seemed to go numb. He still felt the pain, but he seemed numb to everything. Daniel had felt detached from his own body. Only now that it was over Daniel was back in his body. The pain was so overwhelming. It barely registered when he felt someone touch his hand, his shaking hand, gently.

"Daniel are you alright?" he heard Olivia ask.

"No, I feel like I'm dying, no I wish I was dying," he gasped out.

"It's going to be alright," she told him in that comforting voice, which had calmed him so well an hour ago, that now had little effect on him now.

"I hurt so much," Daniel told her. "I can't ever imagine it being alright again."

"It will I promise," she told him and then paused. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Morphine, can I have more morphine?" He knew what the answer would be but asked anyway.

"I'm sorry but I can't give anymore to you. If I did you would die."

"I don't care! It would be better than this!' he blurted out.

She embraced him, carefully avoiding his burns, and whispered softly in his ear. "Shush, it is going to be alright. You have so much to give yet. Don't give up now. It's going to be alright. The pain will eventually go away, you will be fine."

Whether it was because she was holding him, or whispering in his ear, or both he didn't know. What Daniel did know is he started to calm down. His body relaxed in her arms, and his breathing slowed down. Yes the pain was still there, but it seemed to not be as intense.

"How do you do that?" he asked Olivia.

"Do what?"

"Calm me down so well."

"It is a talent that comes with practice," she said. There was a strange sadness in her voice. It was almost like she sounded like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. It was a tone that he had heard in Miller's voice often.

"How long have you done this?" he asked softly, almost not wanting to hear the answer.

"She sighed loudly and then said, "I started working in burn units since a month after Pearl Harbor."

Daniel didn't say anything because of his shock, but he didn't have to.

"It is a thankless job," she told him. Her voice had nothing to it now. There was no tone, no pitch, no feeling, and no emotion. It was empty, dead. It was a haunting sound that let him know she had seen, and heard too much, and while she was strong, it was eating at the inside of her soul and heart. He didn't even have to see her face to know this. Just those five words had told him all he needed to know. She too was a victim of this war that had gone on far too long. No she didn't have any scars or disfigurements that a person could see that would let them know she had been wounded, or at least Daniel didn't think she did. However, he could hear the scars and the pain in her voice. It made him want to reach out to her, to make it better, but how could he help her when he couldn't even help her.

"Why do you stay here if it hurts so much?" he asked her. Once again he had a general idea what she would say.

"While it is a thankless job, it still has to be done. Nurses don't stay in a burn unit for long of they can help it, most can't. However, if no one stays who is going to do the job? I stay because I have to, because I'm needed. At least I know I'm doing some good here, even if it is only to just make them comfortable," she finished. Her voice had to be the sadist thing he had ever heard in a very long time. She had comforted him this far and now he felt like he needed to comfort her.

He squeezed her hand gently and Daniel could imagine her smiling sadly.

"Thank you, for what you've done for me so far," he told her. "I probably wouldn't be able to make it through this if it wasn't for you. I would be ready to leave and go to God, but you keep bringing me back. I think he sent you to me."

When she was silent for a moment, Daniel was starting to think he had said something wrong. Then he felt her squeeze his hand again before she spoke. "I suppose God does work in different ways. If I'm meant to keep bringing since to you, I'll do it."

Her words puzzled him a little but he didn't say anything about it. Instead he decided to focus on his treatment. "How often am I gonna to have to go through that?" he asked her. Hearing her sigh was all Daniel needed to know that the answer wasn't going to be good.

"It's going to take a while for you to get new skin," she told him. "Until then we will have to do this every day. There is a good thing though. As long as we keep the bandages on your skin shouldn't dry out."

"What will happen if my skin dries out?" he asked her before he could stop himself.

"I really shouldn't tell you," she said after a moment. "I mean you shouldn't have to worry about it. I keep a good eye on my patients."

Instantly, Daniel knew that whatever she wasn't telling him was something he didn't want to happen to him. He also really wanted to know what it was now.

"Please ma'am…Olivia," he said. "I would really like to know what could happen."

He listened closely to the sigh that he knew was coming. When he heard it, he also felt her squeeze his hand gently. "I'll tell you, but remember this probably won't happen," she told him. "When the skin dries out on a burn patient it kind of shrinks up. It's highly painful and to loosen the skin up you have to cut it. However, that isn't going to happen with you. I don't let that happen to the people I treat if I can help it. I keep an eye on everyone here, and my nurses know what happens when they don't do their job."

"How often does it happen?" Daniel asked. He actually wasn't sure if he wanted to know the answer, but he needed to know.

"It usually happens when a patient is first brought in and they weren't taken care of when they were overseas. I don't let it happen when people are in my care. You were one of the ones that were treated very well when you arrived, so you shouldn't have to worry about it."

"You really have a lot on your hands here, don't you?" he asked her.

"I do, but don't worry. I've been doing this for a while, so I know what I'm doing," she told him.

Daniel was about to ask her something else but he never got the chance.

"Lieutenant," he heard a female voice say. It was easy to tell the woman was nervous.

"Yes, Michael's?" Olivia's voice was back to being completely professional now. Daniel wasn't sure how he was going to get used to that.

"They've brought in a new one," the woman said. "Here is his chart."

Olivia's weight was lifted up from his bed and he could hear papers being moved.

"Damn," he finally heard Olivia say. It socked him a little. "Alright, I'll be right there. Give him morphine and get him ready. He needs to be taken care of right away."

"Yes Lieutenant," the woman said and soon he heard her walking away.

"Get some rest Daniel," Olivia told him. "I will check on you later."

Before he could say anything, he heard her footsteps walking away from him as well. They were brisk and it sounded like she was in a hurry. Whatever was going on wasn't good. Daniel felt his heart go out to this person, and he was praying that God would watch over him. When he heard the screams Daniel sighed and shut his eyes harder. Even though God was watching, there wasn't anything he could do to keep them from feeling pain in this place.

* * *

_A/N: This was a hard chapter for me to write, but it had to be done. I'm trying to show what it's like to go through something this horrific and I hope I'm pulling it off. It won't always be this gloomy, and in the next chapter I'm going to try to make things a little better. Also I know Daniel is a bit ooc right now, but you have to remember that he's going through something very horrific. Anyone would struggle if they went through something like this, but his faith is what is keeping him strong. The old Jackson will come through later on, I promise! I hope you liked it. Please review, I want to know your opinions. _


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